Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-12
Big Salaries and Big Fees.


1t is reported that Mr.. Manning Is to
have $4,000 a year as President of the
Western National Bank, and that Mr.. Jor-
dan is to have $4,000 year as Vice Pres
ident. AS Secretary of the Treasury Mr..
Manning's salary is $4,000, and Mr.. Jor-
dams salary as Treasurer is $4,000. The
inducementaor these two government off,
cials to resign, therefore, is very strong
one. MIR. Manning's duties as President
Of the new bank will not be anywhere
near 80 laborious as his duties as Secre-
tary of the Treasury are, and Mr.. JOr-
dams responsibility will be much less.
The compensation Of men of tirst-class
ability, either in business or the profess
sions, is steadily increasing. No one
would have thought OF giving a bank pres
ident $780, year a quarter of century
ago, and $1,000 was regarded as an enor-
nous lawyers fee, even in the large
cities, twenty years ago. 1t is men,
toned by Lincoln's biographers that
the largest fee he ever re-
ceived was $500, and he
was leading member OF the Illinois bar.
A lawyers fee of $4,000 or $4,000 is not
now regarded as anything unusual. 1t ls
said that for defending the Bell Telephone
Company in one case in the United States
Circuit Court MIR. Dickerson, OF New
York, was paid 100000. There are law
yers in New York who have received
very much larger fees than that.
The pressure at Washington for an in
| crease OF salary is constant and strong.
| The members Of the House at the present
session would have voted themselves
| 81 900 year each for clerks If they had not
! been afraid that such action would have
been 50 generally condemned as to have
| defeated many OF those who voted for it at
the next election. There is no doubt, how
ever, that Cabinet officers, Congressman,
| and department officials generally, find it
| quite difficult to get along with the sala-
ries they receive. They get enough to
live upon comfortably in plain way, but
they are not content to live plainly and
economically. They desire to dress
richly and make the same kind OF a dis
play that their more prosperous neigh
boris do. This is a very natural desire,
and it is difficult to resist. Before the
war between the States it did not cost
much more to live in Washington than it
did in small interior town. Living is
not expensive there now if no effort
is made to keep up with
the rich and fashionable people
who lead society there. Where there is
so much attention given to social mat
tiers, however, and such a display OF
wealth in homes, in dressing and enter
tainments it is almost impossible for
those in official life to live economically
unless they drop out of the social life
| altogether.
Social pleasures are taking a stronger
| hold upon Washington each succeeding
year. Officials who follow society find
that it makes heavy drain upon their
time and purse. If they have no private
| incomes they have a hard time of it TO
keep out OF debt, and when there comes
a change they go out of Office poor. While
they have the chance, however, they are
all the time pressing for an increase OF
salary, not because they hope to save
anything, but because they want TO keep
up with the procession.
Salaries of officials are continually
being increased. The poor farm.
ers and workingmen, who are
barely able, by the most rigid economy,
to make both ends meet, may protest, but
they will be unheeded. AS the wealth of
the country increases salaries, where
ability is required, will be increased to
enable the officials to move in the
same circle with those who are ricn. The
days of simplicity are rapidly passing
away, if, indeed, they have not ALREADY
gone.